


A Long, Cold Walk

by ACFan120



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25908061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACFan120/pseuds/ACFan120
Summary: Sariel takes a walk alone to collect her thoughts
Kudos: 1





	A Long, Cold Walk

The rumbling of the truck came to a stop, and everything had gone quiet. A panel between the driver’s seat and the back storage of the truck slid open.

“Looks like we’re here,” the gruff soldier said, “Getcher selves ready, and I’ll be heading back to the base. Can’t have anyone get suspicious now.”

Sariel and the group gave a nod, and procured their items strewn across the floor of the truck. The ride had been a long, tense one, especially after a checkpoint that gave them a scare of being discovered. It wasn’t any better that they were in the back of an Eblanian Prison Truck, made to transport captured Qi. The Psinite crates and containers gave terrible migraines to those with psionic powers, and the cramped space made the two-day drive rather uncomfortable. Still, having a few days where nothing happened was a fairly new experience for the group.

The doors to the back opened, and a burst of snowy winds graced everyone’s cheeks. If the past few days were a new experience for everyone, then the icy chill was exceptionally so. Lalafa and Mire immediately scurried their way to Sariel’s satchel to escape the wind, with Zinnia huddling close to the Angel. Aeva braced herself, not handling the cold that well with being a Water Elemental, while Noelani created some warming static from her hands.

There had been some plans to figure out how they would move about Hazelwick. Their goal was to get to the river docks, to procure a research ship that had been lent to them. The problem, however, was the means of getting there. Wanted Posters were prevalent now, and in great detail. Surely there would be people wanting to get the reward money from each of them. Thankfully, there was one amongst the current group that had no such worries: Noelani. Perhaps it was because she was too new to the group, or that she wasn’t deemed important. Regardless, she was the ace in their sleeves for procuring disguises so they can travel safely.

Noelani was given money and Sariel’s cloak to keep warm, and then sauntered off to the shops. The wind had thankfully died down some, but the air was still bitter cold. Sheets of silver clouds loomed overhead, and the back alley they sat in wasn’t exactly any more pleasing. Some casual conversation arose with Zinnia and Aeva, but Sariel paid it no mind. Instead, she stood up, and casually walked down the path the alley went to. Whether it was to stretch her legs, or to catch some air, no one really knew why she began to walk. Sariel probably didn’t know herself. Her eyes glazed over, and she began to lose herself to her wandering thoughts.

On the day of their departure, Dutchess Bryony said something to her:

“Yep, you’re stressed.”

It wasn’t exactly profound, and was something even Sariel could point out, even if reluctantly. But to single her out from the rest of everyone as “stressed” was something that stuck with her. Was she really that stressed? I mean, everyone’s been through so much. There’s been a titan of a woman hunting down Jennifer to take her away, the King of Eblana himself attempting to steal Aeva as well, and Mire and Lalafa had just been kidnapped by a terrifyingly awful man that wanted to harness their powers. Even Zinnia had been put through trials, from being stolen by a Psycho Siren, to almost dying protecting everyone from a crashing airship. Who was Sariel to even consider she had it worse off from them?

Still, the words rung in her ears. But just as they echoed, another sound cut through the external silence.

Meow.

Sariel’s head perked up, and she looked to the sound. A rather fluffy cat had sat itself in front of her. His coat was thick and a bit matted, and the tail was stubby. He also had a small scar across his mouth. ‘Heh, just like me’, Sariel thought to herself. She took off her gloves, and offered her hand to the cat. It sniffed, then laid his hand in her palm. Sariel gave a chuckle at the cat’s friendliness. The cat trotted over to a rusted bench, hopped atop it, and gave another cry to her. Surely she mustn’t be rude, she thought, so she took a seat next to him. The cat then hopped atop Sariel’s lap, and made himself comfortable. She couldn’t help but give another laugh at this. “I would have thought,” she said aloud, “you would have tried to bite or attack me.”

And that’s when it began to dawn on her. Despite her offering a hand in kindness, she’s been so used to the harshness of the world, that something like this like this was almost unprecedented. So often would she offer kindness to someone, only for them to either slap her hand away, or even shoot her in the leg. The plentiful scars across her body were warning signs to being so friendly. Still, she had persisted in her want to help. It was the right thing to do after all, right?

The cat purred and wiggled his nubby tail, and Sariel in turned gave the cat a few pets. The matted fur was full of dirt and knots, which made pets a bit difficult to give. She thought for a moment, and then pulled out a charm from under her jacket. Scribed on it was simply the word, “Clean”, written in the language of the goddess. She placed the charm atop the cat’s back. A white light began to envelope the cat, and just as soon quickly disappeared. His fur was all nicely groomed and cleaned, and quite fluffier as a result. He stared off for a moment, probably confused by what transpired, but then gave a small chirp before hopping off her lap.

With a happy trot, the cat went down to an opening in the alley, and turned to the main streets. Sariel had lagged behind, and quickly turned back into the alley when she heard a loud exclamation.

“Tempura! There you are!”

Sariel peaked around to see a small Arkeyan girl hoisting up the cat.

“I been lookin’ fer you forevah! Imma take you back home now. Momma will be so happy!” The girl snuggled with the cat, before turning away from the alley. As she began to merge into the crowds, Sariel could see little Tempura turning back to her, and giving one last meow. A warmth of happiness filled Sariel. Seeing the child so overjoyed to have her pet back made her quite joyful. It made her think of Lalafa, and how she would feel if---

Shoot, Lalafa! And Aeva and Zinnia! They’re probably waiting for her to come back. Oh, they must be so worried about her. Sariel quickly hurried back down the alley where she had come from, hoping she wasn’t gone for too long. It shouldn’t have been too long right? She had only been gone 10 minutes, tops.

The closer she got to the group, the more she could hear Lalafa’s distressed voice in her head. Oh no, they must be in trouble! She rounded the corner to see Aeva’s water jug opened, and a distressed Lalafa, Mire, and Zinnia.

“Mooooom! Mom, mom! I drank Aeva!”

Sariel looked confused and dumbfounded.

“Um, well, you see,” Mire started, “While you were gone, Aeva got herself stuck in her jar, and--”

“She did what?” Sariel’s head tilted in more bewilderment.

“It’s, ah, true. I dunno how I did it, but now I’m stuck in here,” Aeva’s voice echoed from the jug. Sariel looked in the jar to see pure water. “I turned myself into water! I’m Water Aeva, Sariel!” Aeva added, with little tendrils of water wiggling around in it. Sariel looked in the jar, and then to Lalafa, (who was still distressed), to Zinnia who was just shrugging with an embarrassed smile, and back to the jar. She face palmed and sighed, but on the inside she was smiling. Regardless of what her journey had for her, Sariel always had her friends to bring some light to her life. Even if they themselves were a bit silly at times.

As Sariel lifted her head, Zinnia had floated up to Sariel.

“So, where have you been, by the way? It’s been an hour.”

“It’s been what?!”  



End file.
